SPEEDWAY has a long history of shooting itself in the foot and it has done it again over the Craig Watson average row'.

Pirates chief Matt Ford was convinced he was able to sign his own club's asset on an assessed 3.00 average as per the figure shown on the British Speedway Promoters' Association website.

But, after fans questioned whether the move was legal on an internet website, BSPA chairman Peter Toogood has sided with the supporters.

Toogood, prompted by Ford, looked at the rulebook and admitted he spent "almost 24 hours" trying to work out whether or not Watson was eligible to ride for Poole Castle Cover in the Elite League.

In the end, he deemed Watson's 8.21 figure while on loan at Premier League Glasgow last year had to come into effect in 2008 team building rules.

So the Australian was ruled out of Pirates' side because that average had to be halved to 4.11, and the Dorset club only had 3.15 to play with to fit in their last man.

The whole sorry saga, which has been aired in public after Poole had already announced Watson as being their seventh rider, is bizarre to say the least.

It has certainly done speedway no favours, and has made the sport look like a joke, not only to outsiders but also to connoisseurs.

Especially so when we are led to believe that Watson can return to the Elite League in 2009 on a 3.00 average if he only rides in the Premier League this year.

No, I can't work that one out either. And that's after more than 12 years of reporting on speedway, and 32 years of following it.

So how can the sport avoid recurrences of this silly situation and poor publicity, which will surely put people off going to watch live speedway?

For a start, it could make the rules more transparent and easy to understand.

If Ford - who has been one of Britain's leading speedway promoters for almost a decade - doesn't fully understand the rulebook, then how on earth are the rest of us supposed to?

Also, surely Toogood - who had the final say - should have been able to give an answer in one minute. He shouldn't have needed 24 hours to make the ultimate decision.

The vital word that seems to have caused confusion in the Watson average row' appears to be the use of "transferring" in the rulebook.

Rule 17.3.3.2.c in The Speedway Regulations' reads "Assessed averages. From PL to EL, if the rider has: both a 2007 EL and PL CMA (as a consequence of transferring clubs/leagues) during the 2007 season, the higher of a converted PL CMA or actual EL CMA shall apply."

Watson, a fully-fledged Pirates asset, was not transferred' in May from Poole, whom he rode in 13 EL meetings last season, to Glasgow, whom he went on to ride in 16 PL meetings for.

He was only loaned'. Perhaps that is why Pirates thought they could use Watson on 3.00, not 4.11.

To me, and I admit I'm no expert on the rules because they appear to chop and change so much on a yearly - nay daily - basis to suit whoever is making up the rule at the time, the use of transferring' should, perhaps, be changed to read switching' or moving'.

That way, maybe the whole on-off Pirates sign Watson' story could have been avoided.

It would have been clear (or clearer) from the outset the rider wasn't eligible to line up for Poole on a 3.00 average rather than the 4.11 figure that has ultimately ruled him out.